


Of Scalpel and Wedding Dress

by Elise_the_Writing_Desk



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Ann quit modelling, Eloping, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Post-Break Up, Surgeon!Ren
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:29:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22317868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elise_the_Writing_Desk/pseuds/Elise_the_Writing_Desk
Summary: She's restarting her life, leaving the bright flashy world and the title of supermodel. He, is a surgeon; one expects him to be cool-headed and analytic, but he's a romantic who's barely out of a break-up with the history of three exes and a total record of seven marriage proposals being turned down. He should just take it easy, find out what's wrong with him, and think about what he really wants with romance. That's the plan...but then she just had to go ahead and propose him."You know what, I am so sick of my grandmother and Kamoshida pestering my life to marry, so why don't I just give one of them what they want? Marry me, Ren. If after a year you find someone else you love, we can divorce. I just want Kamoshida to shut up and stop."Of course he said yes. Of course he did! The problem is, he would never ever divorce her. And he's not going to talk about it. Like, ever.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Takamaki Ann, Persona 5 Protagonist/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	1. Restart

“Ann-chan! It’s been a while!”

A raven-haired young woman rushes to hug her slender blonde friend, gradually attracting specters in Narita’s arrival area. The two friends are hugging for several moments before looking at each other’s face with happiness brimming in their expression. Being in their own happy world, they didn’t notice the curious and guessing glances from passing people. However, no one can recognize them, thanks to their mask. The raven-haired wears a baseball cap, whilst the blonde wears a pair of shades.

“Alright, you better tell me your place now!”

“You drive?” Takamaki Ann asks with an incredulous tone.

“Of course!” Suzui Shiho winks in her reply, a mischievous, proud smile gracing her face.

Since they’re in Japan, it’s not exactly common for people to drive their own car, because most people spend their lives here utilizing the public transport. Not to mention, Ann can never guess that Shiho would be interested in doing anything than volley, so she’s surprised to know that her friend could drive a car.

Her car is an orange Nissan March. Shiho tells her friend that her parents gifted it after she won the olympic two years back.

“Oh right! I watched your match there! So you went back and they just bought this for you?”

“Mmhm! But Ann, you yourself probably have a car. What was it?”

“Sold it. It’s a Porsche. I used the money to buy equipments in my new place.”

“An atelier huh...Hmm. I still can’t believe you went and quit modelling.” Shiho notices her friend’s expression turned slightly glum after mentioning this, and smiles a little. “Seems like we’re going to have a lot of things to catch up on.”

Ann giggles dejectedly.

“We sure do.”

~.X.~

First, they are heading to Ann’s new house, which is in a quiet residential area. It’s twenty minutes walk to Inokashira Park. It’s an old house that used to be owned by an elderly couple that had passed away. Their only son already had his own place with his own family, but in Kyoto. Apparently the couple were runaways from Nagasaki before the nuclear bombing catasthrope. A land in Tokyo is definitely not cheap, let alone a historical house like this, so Shiho doesn’t even want to ask how much Ann had paid to get this house. It’s a good, quiet neighborhood as well. The house shows a semi-modern euro-asia design. However, Ann merely drops her baggages on the front hall, and says that they should head to the atelier.

Shiho is slightly relieved to hear that Ann didn’t buy a place in Shibuya or Harajuku. Hearing the address, they stopped by Shiho’s house to park the car, and then walk to the station. Yongen-Jaya is a small area that Shiho herself had never been to; she’s heard about a good cafe there, but it’s not something that really invites her to explore this neighborhood.

With that in mind, it’s even more confusing to hear that Ann chose this area to establish her own atelier. Seeing the place itself is even more confusing; it’s a three story building separated from other buildings, but the entrance is a bit hard to see, because the main street is not so big, one has to slip from a small alley to get in.

“Nice, the equipments are in.” Ann comments after letting Shiho walk in, and closes the sliding glass door behind them.

Shiho can see several manequins, a manual sewing machine, and electric one, an empty dresser, and at least a dozen rolls of fabric in different colors, leaning on the corner of the walls, at least three meters tall. The seats are covered by white cloths. On the second floor, there are six rooms which will probably become dressing rooms. The third floor seems perfect for studio work. Each floors have a big window facing the main streets. Shiho opens it and looks out across the street where there’s a sign of an old theater and clinic.

“Oh, that’s probably the cafe.” She points out.

“What cafe?”

“Cafe LeBlanc. I heard about it like a long time ago, but I never went.”

“Do they sell a meal there or just coffee?”

“I heard they sell coffee and curry.”

“Sounds good.” Ann hums and pulls her keys from her pocket. “Why don’t we lock up and have lunch there?”

~.X.~

The sky seems gloomy seen from behind the windows of LeBlanc. A raven haired young man who don’t seem to be over thirty hangs his head down, one of his hands massaging his temple after seeing the messages in his phone.

“What’ll it be?” the cafe’s Boss asks, wiping the cups.

“Americano. Wait, before that, I want spicy curry.”

“Coming right up.”

He closes his eyes again for several seconds and several deep breaths, before turning back to his phone again and make a call.

...

...

“Sayoko, I—“

 _“Please, stop. I’ve explained everything. Why won’t you listen?_ ”

“I’ve listened! But what about you? It’s my turn to say what I have in mind—“

“ _Ren! All I ask is for you to wait. That’s all! Can’t you do this tiny thing for me?_ ”

“I’ve waited for so long...I told you, I can’t wait anymore.” Ren tries to calmly say, “We’re over.”

 _“You’re just being emotional._ ” The woman on the other line giggles, probably not believing this to happen over the phone. “ _I told you it’s not very manly to break up over the phone_.”

“We’ve broken up since last night. You still don’t want to hear what I have to say. I’m sorry, I regret calling you again, but now I’m sure of it.”

“ _I’ll be back. Really. Don’t worry._ ”

“No. Goodbye.” He hangs up and mutes his phone, ignoring the call returning to him. He itches to answer it, but his impulsiveness earlier was already satiated, so now he is using all his willpower to not answer the damn thing.

The steaming Americano is gently settled in front of him.

“Oof. Tough stuff.” Boss says.

“Tell me about it.” He sighs and taps his fingertips onto the hot cup.

The quietness is soon broken when the door chimes open, and two ladies step in. The one in the front seems excited, while the one behind her is glancing around curiously.

“Ooh! Retro!” the raven-haired one points out.

“How cozy.”

The one entering last is quite a sight to behold; it’s not everyday to see a blonde foreigner around Yongen-Jaya, let alone stepping into this cafe. However, Ren have this inexplicable feeling when he sees her. The cafe, and her, they’re like a portrait that swept him away, as if he’s somewhere in London.

“Welcome. What’ll you have?” Boss seems slightly perked up seeing them. Surely those girls are beautiful and sight for sore eyes.

“I don’t know much about coffee.” The raven-haired shrugs to her friend.

“I’ll have long black. She can’t handle anything too bitter, so mildly sweetened cappucinno. If you can draw a heart on it, I’ll give you a tip.” The blonde winks, making the old man chuckle.

“Oh, oh, and the curry! Both spicy?”

“Mm, I’ll have spicy one. Ah! Half the rice, please?”

“Mine too.”

“I’ll be back with your orders, ladies. Get comfortable.”

Shiho eyes a booth, but Ann already sits herself at the end of the bar table, watching the Boss work curiously. She notices the other person in the room, who had been quietly glancing at Ann, and giggles to herself.

As always, Ann always made heads turn, and this particular one hadn’t turned away since. She sits on the booth’s seat behind Ann’s stool.

“You wanna talk now?” she asks, and her blonde friend seems to be out of a trance.

“Oh.” Ann gets off the stool and slips herself to sit in the booth, at the corner next to the window.

It seems like Ann had been stalling, and realizes that she has nowhere else to run anymore, she takes a deep breath after almost a minute of silence.

“It’s...a super long story.”

“We have all the time in the world. I’m sure Boss would even let us sit here for a week straight.” Shiho says in a normal voice, but the old man chuckles, indicating that he heard everything.

Ann smiles wryly. Then, that smiles slowly transformed into a look of despair, and begins her story.

“I’m...running away from someone.”

~.X.~

At the age of eighteen, she left Japan to pursue her modelling carreer. Ann is not shy of using her parents’ influence as designers, she don’t think she’s entitled for it, she’s just fortunate that she gets a head start from it. Her modelling work is not limited to fashion; art, landscape, resort promotion, she’s even made several cameos in Hollywood, and got offers to play in some movies, which she always refused, because she’s not that great in acting.

Being a model, she’s not exactly crowded like a mega celebrity would, and her private life is relatively peaceful. She’s stil in close contacts with some friends she made in high school. Although, she keeps taking a lot of jobs that prevents her from returning to Japan. What with her parents also constantly swamped overseas, they sold their residence in Shibuya five years later.

At the age of twenty three, in USA or Europe, women wouldn’t fret much about getting married, so she never really worried about it.

She lost her parents in a plane crash several months after her 23rd birthday. It was devastating and it felt as if it had happened a hundred years ago, yet when she sits here and re-tells it to Shiho, who already knows, it felt like it was just yesterday when she got that phonecall and heard that her parents had passed away.

“Again...I’m so sorry to hear that.” Shiho sadly supplies, holding her friend’s hand.

“It’s been two years now.” Ann smiles bitterly. “Things changed since then.”

She was depressed for a month and was excused from work. The funeral was very complicated, because it involves moving the dead from Yorkshire to Tokyo, then to her mother’s hometown, Aomori. Then there’s also the dispute between the two families, because her father’s mother (Ann’s grandmother from father’s side) family wanted him to be buried in Denmark, whilst the divorced father (Ann’s grandfather from father’s side) insisted that he should be buried in the state, in Massachusetts.

Her mother’s family firmly pressured Ann to bring them to Japan, and Ann was so tormented, she went to Japan. There, her nightmare began. They began asking her about boyfriend, then escalated to marriage. Her one-month stay in Japan was horrid.

She tried to refresh herself and watch Shiho competing. For a moment then, she began to think to let go and get back to work...However, she didn’t know that she had attracted someone when she attended the Olympic. When she returned to Aomori to pack her things, that man had used his connection with Shiho’s former coach, and proposed through her grandparents. Kamoshida Suguru offered himself to marry her.

Upon hearing this, Shiho becomes very pale, a hand over her mouth in disbelief. The former volleyball player never heard of this, and she had been wondering why Ann hadn’t been so responsive in the last two years. Still, at the moment, she wouldn’t believe that Ann would be mad at her for that, so there must be something else that had happened.

“He acted as if he had won over me. Even though I refused, grandmother appeased him, saying that I was just being shy or young and stupid.” Ann sighed and continued.

She couldn’t ask for her father’s family’s help, because she was worried that they’re angry at her for the funeral. Before she came to Japan, she wouldn’t think that it’d be such a big deal, but now she’s just to anxious for it. Kamoshida kept barging in on her stay in Aomori, so she excused herself and took a job in Italy. She didn’t think he would chase after her, but apparently he’s quite a successful businessman, so travelling was not a burden for him.

He’s a patriarchist, and he’s traditional minded; he thought that young women like her would relent and liked to be obsessed over. So she had dinner with him to express her refusal clearly. He didn’t take it too well, and her carreer was starting to go downhill.

Kamoshida used his influence to sponsor a model named Mika, and she’d take any jobs that were to be offered to Ann. That didn’t sound bad at first, because Ann would proactively find a job. However, her reputation had been tarnished by gossips, and her employers had been treating her like meat. Apparently, Kamoshida had paid a programmer to make a deepfake porn with Ann’s face. Being in anything sexual, even if a model is not so fawned over by the mass, is frowned upon by the industry.

Despite going through three to four years of successful modelling carreer, she had no way of clearing her name in the industry, as she had no one to support her or a close friend that knew her well. Even the ones who knew her through work would rather steer away, since they knew, Kamoshida might fuck them up. As such, Kamoshida offered to make an open statement if she’d marry him, but Ann knows that’s a lie. Who would admit that they did such things to force someone in a marriage?

So for almost a year, she disappeared completely, planning to salvage what she had. Without a job, her savings would be dwindling if she kept travelling to get a job that would treat her like shit or be taken away by Mika, or just trying to run away from Kamoshida. She disappeared from the radar completely, cutting off her connections from every family members, and hid in Russia and think of a plan to restart her life.

~.X.~

“Seconds please.” Shiho called. It’s disastrous habit whenever the couple of friends are together in a bad mood, because they have an impulsive stress-eating. This only happened when they’re together; it took them back to their high school days where they’d line up for double cream crepes after a tiring exam week.

The curry is so good, and although the coffee is divine, they can’t drink more than a cup. They’re 25 now, and with their carreers, their body is sensitive to what they consume. So a bit more food just for this day can be solved with a longer exercise time, but more than one shot of espresso might cause them to be hyper to the point of crashing.

“Boss, if I gain weight, I’m suing.” Ann jokes as she watches the second plate of curry is being served. The old man chuckles.

“Gain a bit weight, maybe you’ll feel more grounded, no?”

“Haha!” Shiho laughs, and then stares at the old man. “By the way...if you heard us earlier, can you—“

“I heard nothing.” Boss scoffs, shaking his head. He returns to his place behind the bar to fiddle with his coffee beans.

Ann, who notices the quiet young man at the bar, wonders if she should say anything, but then, the cozy silence is broken when they hear ambulance siren ringing on the street. The young man stiffens and turns to the door.

“Yeesh, so loud all of a sudden.” Boss complains, and turns on the TV in hope to distract the noisiness with a different noise, but then they’re shown a dreadful, blurred sight of a train accident. The announcer is reporting live and says that they’re still waiting for ambulance and volunteers to help.

“My word...”

“Keep the change!” the quiet young man suddenly slams several thousands of yen before running off with his white doctor coat. They can see him running to the main street where he parks is black sedan and drives off.

“I meant to distract, but he’s completely distracted.” Boss hums to himself.

“He left his phone!” Ann points out, standing up to grab the gadget from the floor, which he probably droped from his coat pocket earlier. When she tries to hand it to Boss, he shakes his head.

“You found it so you’re responsible for it.” Boss said.

“But he’ll probably return to find it here!”

“Well, you’ll be around, so I’ll tell him that you have his phone.” Boss snickers mischievously. “It’d really help him if he can throw that phone away, after all.”

Shiho says that she can just put the phone down on the bar, but Ann decides to do as Boss told. She had no idea what the young man is going through, but if it’s really going to help, somehow, then she doesn’t mind.

The young man does not return that evening, and they can watch the reporter announcing the train accident again. No death, but twenty-two people are heavily injured. If that young man is a doctor, he’d be very busy to remember about his phone. Shiho and Ann realizes that the line on accident is exactly the line they used to come here, so the station back to Shibuya from Yongen-Jaya is probably unavailable.

They call a cab and return to Shiho’s place. Ann planned to return to her own place, but Shiho insists they have a sleepover. The two friends drink until they’re completely smashed, a dozen of cheers for many ridiculous things ensued, but for all it’s worth, Ann is determined to restart her new life.

Alright, at least after this dreadful hangover is healed.


	2. Spicy

A wedding atelier is not limited to wedding preparation. When it’s off wedding season, it’s wise to have a running business. Ann is not half-bad at designing, but drawing is not her strength...at all. Never. So at first, Shiho is baffled. However, Ann’s main focus is not wedding, but beauty. Having experienced the lifestyle of a supermodel, she’s known every single thing about beauty care.

Make up, hair styling, facial, spa, she’s learned all of those variations in different parts of the globe, she’s tried the best products and the best techniques. Ann had gotten her masseuse certificate in Thailand three years ago just for a side fun thing to do. And during her year in Russia, she’s completed her manicurist course. The first thing she does in her atelier is to hang those certificates on the wall of the first floor, which will be the spa-station.

She’s not a professional hair-stylist, even if she’s not bad at it, but Ann sets in on her list to find one soon. She’s got at least a row of hair washing station, which consists five seats. She had dragged her sewing machines upstairs. The first day, she poured herself to preparing the place. She hired people, ordering massage tables, making sure the water runs and is clean. She wants the spa to run first, then focus on the other parts of her atelier.

Because the side that faces the main street is a long row of big window, Ann can’t put on a long sign there, and for the mean time she uses a black board with big writings to be set on the side of the building, facing the main street.

She just finished setting down the products and dragging her make up suitcase when her door slides open, and a young lady strides in with desperation on her face.

“This place is open right!? Make me look presentable, just do it quickly please!”

Ann who’s mid-way dropping her butt on the fixed chair stands up with pure glute strength somehow.

“Have a seat.” She says, checking out the young lady’s face. She looks perhaps a bit older than herself, but the blessing of Asian ladies, the chocolate-maroon-haired lady looks beautiful and cute.

“What do you want to go with?” Ann asks, and quickly wonders if she has to explain what she meant.

“Cute and energetic is fine, but please finish me in under an hour—I am so crazily late.”

“A blind date?”

“Worse. _Omiai_!” the woman says, making Ann nearly slip in her steps as she returns with her metal make up suitcase and set it down on a roll table. “I’m already twenty nine and I’m just so sick of my parents whining about me getting a man. I want to just go grab the best one and then be done with.”

Ann does not say anything, and the woman is being helpful as she seems used to being dolled up. The blonde sets a light make up to enhance her client’s gracefulness and is easy with the lipstick, deciding to use an ombre style which is currently popularized by Korean ladies. Then, to balance the trend, she braids the lady’s hair in a half-moon french braid. Her hair is so soft, and it’s so easy to style; Ann manages a ribbon using her hair alone. The entire process is finished in under fourty five minutes.

“Alright, wish me luck.” She says, seeming determined as she stares at her reflection. Ann is just counting the bill, but the lady had already left a hundred thousand yen on the rolling table, slamming the sliding door behind her.

She stares at the bill. That was not a bad make up and styling, but Ann thinks at that level of simplicity, it should be around ten thousand yen, even if she’s done it quick. Ten thousand yen is not super cheap or anything, with her caliber and the product she uses, it’s a fair price. Ann realizes she needs to learn a bit more about costing subjective services like this.

“Well, for now let’s consider that I’ve got enough for a day’s quota.” She says to herself and slides the money in her register machine. Ann stares at the mirror where the lady was at.

_I feel like I’ve seen her, though..._

~.X.~

It’s already nine in the morning when the train crash victims are all tended to and most of them are safely resting at the moment. Amamiya Ren finished talking with the police about the patients he handled from this incident, and glances at the crowding of reporters piling on the hospital’s director. He knows those people came after hounding the train station management.

“Amamiya,” from the apothecary, a dark-haired woman steps towards him in high knee spiky heels. “You answer your goddamn phone or I’ll shoot you and myself.”

“Takemi, if you have something to say just spit it out.”

“Not me, it’s Sayoko.”

Ren clicks his tongue and sighs, shaking his head. His hand reaches into his coat pocket. With his heart clenching nervously, he digs all of his pockets, and finally accepts that he’s lost his phone. Takemi Tae sees this and hums.

“So you didn’t mean to, you just lost your phone.”

“Mean to what? I broke up with her. Tell her that for me.” Ren begins to walk away.

“Where are you going?”

“Getting my phone back? What? You have anything else to say?” Ren asks the older woman agitatedly, and she shakes her head, letting him go.

He doesn’t really feel like talking to another ex today, and he’s not getting his phone back to talk to Takemi either. Being a surgeon, it’s vital to have his phone close at all time, as he has other patients he’s taking care of. Ren drives to Yongen-Jaya and asks for his phone to the Boss.

“The blonde lady from the other day found it, so I told her to hold on to it.”

“Why can’t you just keep it?”

“I don’t have to and I don’t feel like it. Tough luck.” The old man remorselessly shrugs.

Ren sighs and walks out. The only hope he has at the moment, is that by the way the Boss speaks, the woman seems to be around this area. Unfortunately, the area has a small main street so it’s tough to drive slowly to inspect around. He has to walk. But when he thinks about starting to walk around, he realizes how hungry he is, and returns to LeBlanc to get some curry.

“You’re in luck, it’s the last plate for today.” Boss says.

Ren is slightly taken aback, and frowns. “This isn’t even noon. Your shop don’t look that crowded.”

Boss scoffs. “I do what I want, and if you don’t shut it you won’t even get this plate.”

“Whatever.” Ren mumbles and walks off to use the restroom for a bit.

When he washes his hands, he hears the door chime, and a feminine voice. He quickly turns off the sink, and recognize the woman’s voice. Ren doesn’t know why he recognize a stranger’s voice so easily...perhaps it’s because her voice sounds cool and smooth, silvery in his ears when he...eavesdrop her story the other day.

“Sorry, miss. Last plate today.”

“Aww...too bad. I’m so hungry though.”

“There’s a grocery store close by, maybe you can find something to fill up.”

“Thanks! I’ll take your advice.”

He quickly opens the restroom door, but he’s just several steps too late, because the woman is already walking out. He can see her disappear at the turning point.

“You should’ve told her I’m here!” Ren huffs, but before Boss can retort, he walks out to chase the blonde lady.

Ren stops thinking about how the old man did it on purpose to annoy him, as he doesn’t need to search too far and finds her stepping into the grocery store. She seems at loss of what to get, so he quickens his pace and calls out to her.

“Excuse me—hello,” she turns to him, and Ren slightly regrets not seeing her clearly the other day.

Because her glistening ocean-like eyes are mesmerizing and soothing his irritable heart.

“Oh! Aren’t you—from the other day—“

“I heard you had my—yes, yes, I’m from the other day—“

They fall silent, realizing that their words are overlapping each other, nervous and awkward for no reason. The two smile at each other, she giggles, and it’s infectious, inviting him to chuckle.

“Right, your phone—oh my gosh! Your phone!” she seems surprised, putting a hand over her pink lips, those blue eyes are widening.

“Yes?”

“I’m so sorry...I left it in Shiho’s place...and Shiho said she dropped it at my place, because she’s going away to Kanto for a week.” She gently taps her forehead. “You need it urgently, don’t you? You’re a doctor, I’d guess.”

“Yes, I’m a surgeon.”

“Oh man...Uhm...”

He watches her starting to grow panic, and for some reason the sight is so adorable for him that he can’t help but feel peaceful. It’s like watching a little rabbit fussing about nervously. And she’s not exactly a little rabbit, she’s not short, probably around five to seven centimeters shorter than him. Being a doctor, he can tell that she works out, and her legs have worn heels longer than five centimeters—she’s definitely a model or an athlete.

“It’s okay. It can’t be helped. Can we make an appointment for tomorrow?” Ren tries to calm her down.

“But you have patients probably lining up to prepare for surgery. They’re probably contacting you.” She deducts considerately.

He smiles wryly. “Well, you’re not wrong. But, what can you do? You don’t seem well either. Don’t push yourself and eat your dinner. I’ll just—“

“Um, do you have a car with you?” she asks, and he raises his brows. “If you drop me off my place, I’ll get your phone. But, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get something for dinner first.”

He is silent for a several seconds, before resigning to the whirlwind of this situation.

“Alright.” He grabs a basket for her, and she thanks him prettily before doing a quick grocery shopping. It seems his presence pressured her to be quick, so she’s being rather reckless at grabbing ingredients.

Soon, they’re in his car, heading to her place.

“You should be more wary of strangers.” He comments, eyes on the highway.

He can sense her gaze. They’ve introduced themselves earlier. She’s Takamaki Ann, and he admits to have been listening to her story the other day, so he knows her quite well. Which is strange, how he got the chance to know a stranger’s past entirely in such a way, and he thought he’d never seen her again, but there they are today.

“It’s fine. You’re a surgeon who drove off upon hearing sirens and the news about train crash. I doubt you’re anyone like the villain in my story.” Ann shrugs. “That, and...I think I can say I have enough experience to kinda judge a person.”

“So you know I’m a surgeon who’d rush responsibly to help out at a train crash. That’s just my professional oath.”

“You didn’t even wait to be called.” Ann points out. “It’s like you just jump out, like a hero. Your phone didn’t ring for long, and the caller’s ID was from the hospital.”

Ren can’t say if she’s just too trusting, because he’s heard her past. She seems carefree, but the way she speaks shows her perceptiveness and confidence. It’s too bad that after he retrieves his phone, there’s no reason for them to hang out and be friends.

“Why does the Boss seem so sure that you’d be around Yongen Jaya?”

“Oh, my atelier is just on the street across his shop. I told him about it for a bit after you left.”

“Right, you didn’t say anything about your grand plan of restart, did you?” he chuckles.

“Ohh, I didn’t. I already talked about it to Shiho. Yep, an atelier. It’s a beauty atelier, but I plan to do wedding services too, so if you have any plans for that, hit me up!” she giggles.

He merely smiles, the word ‘wedding’ slight jabs at his own tragic relationship. Thinking about it, perhaps he’s done with wedding and women...it’s not like his parents are pushy about it either. Three women had left him, there’s really nothing left with his heart scattered in smithereens at this point.

“No wedding?” she seems to catch on from the sudden quietness and stiff smile of his.

He chuckles dejectedly. “Seems so.”

“Was it really bad? You’ve got a good prospect and a handsome face, new love will bloom for you!”

He grins stiffly. “Three times are enough.”

When he says it himself, it’s strangely relieving, like he’s just free and resigned to it. It’s done. He’s done. He’ll just have his job. It’s grand enough.

Why was he so desperate about getting married anyways? He’s too old fashioned. It’s as if he can’t be happy if he’s not yet married. Maybe that’s why he’s so desperate. He should be fine on his own.

“Well, my atelier also have massage menu. I guess for now it’s only me, and I should hire more workers soon, and probably a male masseuse for men, huh? Anyways, I’m so good at massage, so drop by to destress anyway!” she tries to cheer him up by changing the topic, and he’s grateful for it.

“Really? You’ve been around the world, so what kind of massage can you do?”

“A lot! Thai, ayuverda, swedish, deep tissue, hot oil...”

“Any recommendation?”

“Depends on what you want? If you wanna wind down, ayuverda is great, and if you wanna get a good night’s sleep, hot oil helps a lot...”

They continue chatting about each other’s experiences, steering carefully away from the topic of romance. Neither of them have great history about it, so they seem to have this silent agreement to not touch that topic for the remainder of the drive.

And then, Ann points out the residential she’s living in, and he slows down to a stop.

“Something wrong?”

He turns to look at her, unsure of what to say.

“Are you...the one living in Narukami’s old house?”

“Yes...?”

“I see.” He gently steps on the gas again. “My place is right across yours. Narukami was my senior in high school and found me that place. His parents were very nice to me.”

She gasps. “Woah! Who would’ve thought!? So we’re neighbors.” She concludes in astonishment.

It’s strange, and the revelation renders them speechless. Neither of them thought they’d be getting involved with each other further, but turns out they’re now neighbors. Ann has a twinge of regret having that mindset, which was the reason why she spilled her gut the other day, not minding the listeners. Though, Ren seemed similar to the Boss at LeBlanc, they don’t seem like men who would mind listening to such things...

Still, she felt embarrassed, but she’s not sure why.

Ren, on the other hand, feels this familiar twinge that he desperately tried to brush off. Just when he thought he’s done with romance, these coincidences happened as if the world is conspiring against him. However, when he glances at her, he remembers her story, and a part of him thinks that nothing is going to happen, so it’s going to be alright. Ann’s got a terrible courting experience; relationship is probably the last thing she’d want, so these coincidences will stay coincidences. A tiny dot in his heart feels sad about this—which he quickly dismisses.

He remembers her words, about how she’s used to the cultures of western countries where marriage is not something anyone would be worried of, and how she’s absolutely put off by how many Asian countries still find marriage to be something that is needed to complete one’s life. Perhaps he’s one of those people. Perhaps he’s an old-fashioned one. Perhaps if he changes that part of him, he wouldn’t feel so much pain about his past relationships.

Then, does that mean he can accept Sayoko again? No. If he can change perspective and accept Sayoko again to date casually indefinitely then he can also get back to Tae, and Makoto. This isn’t something he can just switch over either...he needs time. But he’s decided to give it a try, change his way of seeing things.

“Ah, have you had dinner? I’ll cook something and send it to your house, along with your phone. Are you vegetarian?” Ann asks, just at a good distance from her place.

“Oh. I eat meat...and, if you don’t mind the trouble, that’d be great—but it’s late.” Ren glances at the clock on the dashboard. Thanks to the incident, one of the main roads is detoured, and so it takes six hours due to the insane traffic. He predicts that he’ll have to leave to work by dawn in until things settle down. Earlier, Ann pointed out that she’s surprised there could be such traffic in Japan.

“It’s fine, it’s just across the street.”

Ann gets off the car and grabs her bags in the back seat and thanks him before fumbling with her keys as she walks to her door. He drives to the house across hers and parks his car, entering from the garage door.

Later on after he showers, the blonde woman rings his bell and hands him a small pot of red soup, saying that it’s borscht, and it’s currently the only recipe she remembers at the moment. He thanks her and watches her leaves until she’s safe in her house, before closing his own door and locks up.

He checks his phone slowly, sitting down with a bowl of borscht on his minimalistic table. The calls and the messages indicated that he, luckily, hadn’t missed anything too important. He’s never had borscht before, and he’s pleasantly surprised by the taste. After storing the left over in the fridge, he realizes that he’ll have to return the pot, and he can’t even ask about it to the owner, because he doesn’t have her number.

But he’s not worried or anxious about it. Even though he doesn’t know her for long, Ren can see that Ann is not going to be worried over a small pot. His stomach is full and he’s happy from having a good food. For some reason he’s also not so worried about tomorrow, or dealing with Sayoko...

 _That’s right, it’s Uehara now._ Ren notes to himself before drifting into slumber.

~.X.~

Since before joining medical school, Ren wakes up easily. He’s a light sleeper. It’s been helpful in his career as a surgeon whenever emergency arises. Of course, it’s not a daily thing. The remainder of the week is relatively peaceful at the hospital, and he’s got a lot of time to work on his research now that he can remove his scheduled time to spend with Uehara.

Ren feels strangely happy having poured more time with his research, getting the chance to work on the samples, and now he can just wait for any reactions at all. He realizes that he’s not even bothered at all about not talking to his ex, even with how unclean the break was. When he sits down at the canteen, one of his colleague waves at him.

“Been a while, Ren.”

“Minato-senpai.” He nods at the pale, slender doctor. After taking his bread, he leisurely sits across of Ren.

“How’s the proposal?”

“We broke up.”

Arisato Minato merely blinks at him, before awkwardly staring at his bread. “Sorry to hear that. But...I thought Sayoko said to me that she asked you to wait, and everything’s fine?”

Ren mentally groaned. Uehara is stubborn and often one-sidedly decide on things. It’s impressive but also irritating depending on where you’re standing.

“I told her we’re over...on the phone.”

“Well, that _is_ unclean.” Minato nods in agreement. “Then, clean it thoroughly. Surgeons work with sterile hands.”

“I thank you for your advice, senpai.” Ren smiles bitterly. The neuro-surgeon across him is his senior by seven years. Minato is in his mid-thirties, and unlike Ren with a history of broken relationships, he’s a mysterious charmer that leaves ladies broken-hearted left and right with his bluntness. Probably the first Japanese man whom Ren heard had stated that he’s “Probably asexual”.

Despite that, he’s not exactly with a cold heart. He’s just genuinely unable to think romantically. Minato prefers watching other people, and Ren isn’t shy telling him about his experiences. The man never laughs at him, but he’d often remind him to act properly, which Ren is thankful for. Compared to Minato who seems to be composed even if he’s faced against an oncoming train, Ren admits that he’s a bit reckless and can be hot-headed at times. He admires Minato for having what he himself doesn’t.

Back to the topic, Minato was right. Ren doesn’t feel like it, but he really has to properly talk about it with Uehara. Thinking about what to say reminds him of his decision to just forget about romance for a while, and that truly begs the question; if he’s going to take it easy with romance, then should he really break up with Uehara? He truly can’t bring himself to just be together with Uehara anymore, and even in the past few days since that ‘break up’ over the phone, he doesn’t feel the urge anymore.

He consults this to his senior, who listens patiently to his conflicting mindset. Minato then says this;

“Your will to break up with S—Uehara is nothing related to your will to lay low from romance. They’re separate things. Tackle them one by one. When you truly change your mindset about romance, maybe you can review your decision to break up with Uehara.”

“Then, should I just...not talk it out?”

“Of course you should. She’s not some object to be hang around in wait. Both of you must settle this—I said _both_ , so make sure you drill that to Uehara’s stubborn mind. If she still can’t accept it, just move on. I don’t see that you will, to be honest. And the thing about laying low from romance...have you ever asked why you want to be with someone so badly? And this person who tells you about their perspective overseas, do you think they’re similar to your exes?”

Ren is quiet for a few moments. “I...can’t say? I don’t know her for long. But I do know that she’s a career-driven woman just like...well, my exes.” For some reason it makes him feel a bit dejected considering that.

“I think you should talk to her about it. I honestly don’t understand how some people are rushing to marriage and how some others are stalling; either of them want it.”

Ren chuckles. “And in your case, you’re neither.”

“I guess so.”

~.X.~

Ren decides that it’s more important to understand things before talking to Uehara. He doesn’t want to be dragged by that nurse’s pace, and Uehara is so good at using his uncertainties to play to her own tune. So in his free Wednesday the next week, he rests at home. Uehara never calls, which reminds him that his former two exes did the same. Focusing on their own stuff, then finally settles down, they start coming for him again. Maybe he’s the one who has too many changes of heart. Maybe he’s never been in love with him. Why is he so anxious about getting married, and why did he move on so quickly?

Did he ever loved any of them? Or did he love the idea of being with them?

 _I’m an ass._ He thinks to himself, and notices that the light of the house across his has been switched on.

Ren cleans up himself and grabs the clean pot before going across the street and rings the bell.

She takes ten minutes to answer the door, and another five before opening. He notices the additional locks on her front door, but she welcomes him warmly.

“Oh my! I totally forgot about that...thanks so much, Amamiya!” she seems relieved to see him and accepts the pot. “Sorry. I let you stood out there for a while, didn’t I? I was cooking something...wanna join me for dinner?”

“For someone who seems busy, you make sure to cook, huh?”

“Well, I was a model, so I’m very careful with my food. I think I’ve been eating more than I used to. Usually I just have apple or steamed sweet potato for dinner. Oh, and two hard boiled eggs with no salt. Now I can eat actual good, seasoned food and don’t feel too bad about it.”

Ren feels a bit bad because it’s ironic that he’s a doctor yet he doesn’t take care of his meal as well as Ann does. He joins her for dinner, and today she’s cooked super spicy mapo tofu with real szechuan recipe instead of using Japanese packaged seasonings. He’s impressed seeing her fridge.

“You made the tofu yourself?”

“Mmhm. I learned it when I had a camp in szechuan; I was like twenty two? It was great too, I got to eat a lot because tofu is so low calorie. Oh, do you like spicy food, though? I super love szechuan food, and they’re spicy.”

Ren mentally chuckles at her chattiness, which he does not dislike at all. He likes spicy food as well; actually, it’s been a while since he’s got to eat something until his face burns. They talk about spicy food over dinner, and they’re excitedly talking about korean nuclear spicy food. They also shared their bad digestive experience after eating overly spicy food, but agreed that they’re so good that it’s _worth it_.

After reluctantly accepting that the plate of mapo tofu is empty, they enjoyed hot chinese tea, which comforts their belly. They’re quiet, but it doesn’t feel awkward; he doesn’t feel pressured to talk. Ren always knew that he’s a quiet person by nature, and so were his exes, but he thought Ann wouldn’t find it comfortable with his quietness. She seems serene instead.

The comfort renders him to forget that he has something to ask; being with Ann lets him enjoy the presence. He likes her, but he doesn’t have that strange urge he felt when he was with any of his exes. He doesn’t understand. Perhaps he enjoys their friendship.

When they finished their tea, Ren offers to clean up the dishes. She doesn’t act uneasy or tell him to not trouble himself, she just thanks him, and does a little cooking. When he’s finished with the dishes and is about to excuse himself, she hands him a breakfast burrito wrapped in aluminum foil.

“Just put it in the microwave for three minutes.”

Ren smiles, and then realizes; “I don’t have a microwave.”

She giggles. “Use the pan then. I had fun, by the way.” She says, casually kissing his cheeks, and stands there waiting for him to walk away.

...

Ren is stunned in his spot.

“Um. You shouldn’t do that....here.” he tries to guess the correct response, and she seems shocked in embarrassment.

“Oh—OH! I’M—Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry. So sorry. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not exactly common for foreigners to do that, but like, in Italy, and then like ugh, I’ve been living with Bebe for a year, and he’s _always like that_! It’s not a stereotypical thing, okay!? In short—I’m so sorry. I forgot.”

He laughs at her spontaneous rambling. Of course, he can scarcely guess that she kissed his cheeks because she’s used to do that as a greeting...but he can’t say that the spot where her soft lips touched his cheeks are not on fire...

Maybe it’s because she ate too much mapo tofu. That’s why it’s burning. Yes. Exactly. Her lips are spicy.

When he’s finally in his bedroom, and such thoughts cross his mind, he slaps his own forehead repeatedly.

_Stop thinking, Amamiya. Stop it._


End file.
